Hatch Says It’s “Nuts” To Think Health Care Issue Resolved On Monday; House Majority Leader Says Bill Is Constitutional
by ilene - March 21st, 2010 3:52 am
Hatch Says It’s "Nuts" To Think Health Care Issue Resolved On Monday; House Majority Leader Says Bill Is Constitutional
Courtesy of Mish
A flurry of news reports abound as President Obama puts on a full court press to pass legislation no one really wants except the President and those who have been bribed. Let’s take a look at a handful of articles.
Democrats About Six Votes Short on Health Care, Officials Say
March 19 (Bloomberg) — Democrats need about six more votes from House members to pass a U.S. health-care overhaul, Obama administration officials said today.
White House and Democratic leaders aim to collect those votes from a pool of about 14 to 15 undecided lawmakers to get to the 216 votes needed to pass the measure, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Obama has met or called about three dozen lawmakers in the last five days and has cleared his schedule today for more last- minute appeals, including a campaign-style rally in nearby Fairfax, Virginia.
Obama postponed a five-day foreign trip to Indonesia and Australia to remain at the White House this weekend to ensure passage of a $940 billion bill that is of “paramount importance” to his presidency, spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters yesterday.
House Leaders Work to Alleviate 11th-Hour Medicare Concerns
March 19 (Bloomberg) — House Democratic leaders worked to defuse an 11th-hour rebellion by more than a dozen lawmakers angry that hard-fought increases in Medicare reimbursements for local hospitals were removed from health-care legislation.
“My state is getting screwed,” said Representative Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat. “They have to fix it. I’m a ‘no’ vote unless they fix it.”
Lawmakers representing health-care providers in 17 states are affected by the change, he said. As House leaders corral votes in favor of the legislation, DeFazio said “there are a number of people who may be miscounted at this time.”
House leaders, trying to round up 216 votes to pass revisions to the Senate bill, are working to craft a provision on the Medicare payments that would survive parliamentary challenges by Republicans when the measure is debated in the Senate.
‘Legitimate Concern’
Asked about the issue at a press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters “we do want the language to be closer” to the House measure, which satisfied lawmakers “who have a legitimate concern about the
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Obama’s 8-Month Nightmare Could Begin Tomorrow
by ilene - March 21st, 2010 3:32 am
Obama’s 8-Month Nightmare Could Begin Tomorrow
Courtesy of Joe Weisenthal of Clusterstock
Image: The White House
For months now, the pundits have predicted doom and gloom for Barack Obama and the Democrats come November.
But we’re not totally convinced.
A very likely storyline goes something like this (as we’ve already written): Healthcare passes. On Friday, April 2 at 8:30 AM the March jobs numbers come in, and they show for the first time decisive job growth (very possible). Finally Case-Shiller shows the housing rebound that stalled out over the winter, and voila, the recovery looks credible. Obama then uses the next 8 months to keep juicing the economy, thus riding to a narrow, not-devastating loss in November.
It’s very possible.
But it’s also very easy to envision the nightmare.
Healthcare fails. The jobs numbers look ugly and suddenly there will only be one storyline: why on earth did the Democrats spend so much time pursuing a healthcare bill, when unemployment hovered around 10%, and there was no job growth to speak of?
What the hell were they thinking?
And it’s not just jobs. Calculated Risk lays out various downside risks to the economy: the savings rate begins to creep up rapidly again (something that should happen, though for the right-now that’s seen as a negative), wage deflation picks up again, while small businesses continue to suffocate without access to credit.
In just a few days, starting tomorrow, this could all be the storyline, and then that will go from here until November, at which point John Boehner & Co. will mop the floor with the Democrats, removing the gavel from Nancy Pelosi’s hands for good.
If Obama doesn’t get much sleep tonight, we won’t blame him.
See also:
Late Night Going Badly For Dems, "NO" Votes Pile Up, Odds Of Passage Begin To Slip
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Healthcare Reform Sausage Not Fit For Consumption
by ilene - December 26th, 2009 8:20 pm
Healthcare Reform Sausage Not Fit For Consumption
Courtesy of Mish
As healthcare "reform" heads for passage, president Obama will soon have bragging rights for getting legislation passed that no one has before.
Although the Senate and House versions are different, the odds are something will pass. Moreover the odds are very high the final bill will resemble legislation passed by the Senate.
Senate House Clash
Please consider Senate Democrats Move Toward Clash With House on Health Measure
Senate Democrats, after securing a hard-fought Christmas Eve victory on health-care legislation, now move toward a battle over taxes and other issues with the U.S. House as lawmakers look to merge their differing bills.
The two chambers took different paths toward covering tens of millions of uninsured Americans. And when they begin reconciling their measures next month, they’re likely to clash over issues that include whether to set up a new government-run insurance program to restricting federal funds for abortion.
Finding agreement on financing the legislation “may be the toughest of all,” said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.
The House adopted a 5.4 percent income surtax on individuals earning more than $500,000 and couples earning over $1 million to pay for its $1.05 trillion bill. Senate Democrats would fund their $871 billion bill, which passed on a final vote of 60-39 yesterday, in part by placing a 40 percent excise tax on the costliest health-insurance policies. That provision is opposed by labor unions, which are among the party’s strongest backers.
Because it required all 58 Senate Democrats and two independents to stick together to get the 60 votes needed to secure passage of the chamber’s health-care bill, Thurber said it’s likely the Senate will win out on most issues. “The narrow majority in the Senate makes it almost a necessity to go with the Senate position,” Thurber said.
House negotiators “will have to capitulate on most main differences,” agreed Rogan Kersh, a public policy professor at New York University.
Drugmakers including Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based Merck & Co. have a number of fights on their hands. Lawmakers are pushing for the industry to spend more than the $80 billion that it promised to help patients in the Medicare program for the elderly afford prescription drugs.
Negotiating Power
The House measure calls for the government to capitalize on its buying power to
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW.